§ MR. SCHWANN (Manchester, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty, in view of the fact that the port of Trincomalee, in Ceylon, is off the trade route, and is destitute of commercial shipping of any value, whether Her Majesty's Government proposes to spend in the future the money necessary to defend Trincomalee in enlarging the harbour of Colombo (which is often inconveniently crowded with shipping, causing vessels to lie off in the roads, instead of having the protection of the harbour), and in con- 189 structing a commodious (lock, fortifying the place more thoroughly, and protecting the coal stores, British shipping, and commercial interests in Colombo, as recommended by Rear Admiral Bowden-Smith and other authorities?
SIR U. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTHThe Admiralty do not contemplate transferring the Naval Establishment at Trincomalee to Colombo. As regards the question of enlarging and protecting the original harbour at Colombo, I am informed by the Colonial Office that the improvement of the harbour and the construction of a graving dock are works which would primarily be constructed out of Colonial Funds, and the question of undertaking these works has for some time been under the consideration of the Colonial Government and its technical advisers.